Puppy power
In skijoring, a person on skis is towed by another creature—a dog, a horse or, in the case of former Lapland Lake Nordic Vacation Center owner Olavi Hirvonen, a reindeer.
You can even skijor behind snowmobiles (if you dare).
Many skijoring stories begin with a dog. For Brendan Wiltse, it was Khyber. For Alexander Barrett, it was Ole. For my husband and me, it was Hootch.
Hootch was a black and tan beagle-Shepherd mix with a penchant for pulling. He was pretty terrible on a leash, but worse off it, with a tendency to become distracted by forest scents and fall behind or wander off.
Hootch was 8 or 9 when we decided to put his pulling power to use on the trail. My husband had heard about a woman in Lake Placid who sold skijoring equipment that allowed skiers to be towed by their dogs. We drove up one winter afternoon to try it out on the trails behind her house.
The skijoring equipment we bought that day included an X-back
